I watched Skyfall again the other day. There were countless homages to prior Bond films in the 40th anniversary EON film, Die Another Day. What homages, intentional or not, can you recall from the 50th anniversary film, Skyfall? I’ve been writing down my observations and poking round the web, too.
DN: M’s flat is at 82 Cadogan Square. Cadogan Square was the home of John Barry
Bond and Silva drink 50-year-old whisky, said to be “a favorite of Bond’s”
Q gives Bond a modified Walther PPK as his new sidearm
M’s new office is a close replica of M’s original office, down to its hat rack beside the door and leather-padded inner door, and Moneypenny’s throwback dress and M’s hair and three-piece suit
Q resembles the radio room staffers in Dr. No
Bond takes care as a scorpion crawls on him (a spider)
Craig’s suits are inspired by Connery’s in the first three films
Craig mimics Connery’s one-hand Walther pose (titles sequence)
The villain’s headquarters are on his private island
FRWL: A villain homoerotically flirts with an agent
Skyfall Lodge’s priest tunnel is similar to the allied agents tunnel
The film’s McGuffin is a list requiring decryption (or a decryptor) but the villains actually want to cause ignominy to the Secret Service, Bond as their pawn
Bond faces an assassin aboard a train, his female sidekick of little help
A special device is used for a garrote
Bond greets a female in his hotel room, wearing only a white towel
GF: Q gives Bond a small, rectangular homing device
Bond drives a DB5 with plate BMT 216A and a red-button gear shift ejector seat (and M asks and Bond says they’re driving “back in time”). As Bond first drives his car, the scene is reminiscent of the Swiss Aston Martin chase.
The henchmen who fights Bond in the casino resembles Oddjob
Bond to Q: “You must be joking.”
Patrice, like Oddjob, speaks no dialogue
Bond in shadow leaves his DB5 for his lodge in a match shot from the Goldfinger pre-titles sequence
TB: Bond uses a henchperson’s Chinese character tattoo for a clue
Bond seducing Severine resembles Bond seducing Pat
A stag is seen (similar to the Thunderball pre-titles sequence stag)
Bond playfully shoots a target using a shotgun from the hip, but with extreme accuracy
CR ’67:
YOLT: Bond is considered dead, ending the pre-titles sequence, and receives an obituary
A secret agency is headquartered underground
Q complains about flying (long journey, afraid to fly)
Moneypenny’s Macau hotel room outfit is similar to Helga Brandt’s costume
OHMSS: A long section of poetry is recited
Bond wears cufflinks bearing his family crest/family motto
Bond sheds tears as he bears a dead woman in his arms, killed by the villain he pursued
DAF: A black scorpion provides danger
“Of course” is spoken six times in the film (Bond to Plenty, “But of course you are.”)
Bond uses a moving elevator for a covert ride
The train bearing down on Bond is reminiscent of the rat’s pipeline scene
“Smell a rat” is spoken
Bond drives past one stag (or drives a Triumph Stag)
Bond uses a crane hoist to fight a villain
LALD: Bond steps atop a reptile to escape danger
Bond clings to a moving train (Baron Samedi clings to a train)
Silva uses a skull logo (like the titles sequence and etc.)
TMWTGG: Bond begins a mission in Macau, prompted by Q Branch’s examination of an unusual bullet he’s recovered. He visits a floating casino and meets a beautiful woman who seems free but is captive. The villain’s woman asks Bond to kill her lover but she will die beforehand.
The villain owns a fancy, motorized sailboat as transport
The villain’s headquarters are on his private island
Bond is in a funhouse hall of mirrors during the titles sequence
The villain duels Bond, using a one-shot pistol
Bond meets a henchwoman in a Macau casino, before he seduces and interrogates her to pursue a villain’s whereabouts
TSWLM: Bond interrogates a henchman who clings to him before falling to his death
A bad guy wears a mouth prosthetic with false teeth
Bond quips about a female agent’s driving skills
MR: Bond plunges over a waterfall to his (Jaws’s) presumed death
Silva’s monologue stride resembles Jaws preying on Manuela
FYEO: “Don’t cock it up.” (“Try not to muck it up again.”)
Patrice’s shrapnel is “For Her Eyes Only”
Bond is handed a file “For Your Eyes Only”
The villain is killed by a knife thrown into their back
“That’s putting it mildly.”
OP: Bond fights a henchman, atop a moving train, with part of the train fight inside a tunnel
India was the pre-titles sequence location (before rail access was prohibited)
Bond fights aboard a red train
An unconscious agent’s body floats through rapids
NSNA: An exploding pen is referenced
“Don’t you dare touch her, she’s mine!” (“Don’t touch him! He’s mine!”)
AVTAK: Bond uses a double-barreled shotgun, which was also a family heirloom
A family’s mansion is mostly empty, due to selloff for debt
Silva’s blonde hairstyle resembles Zorin’s
TLD: A villain reveals spies, attempting to have them killed
Silva zips up his jumpsuit with élan (like Rosika Miklos at the pipeline station)
LTK:A woman wears a backless, sequined dress and a gun strapped to her thigh
Bond uses a print-signature gun
Revenge drives the plot
“Get in” a car
“It’s a waste of good Scotch.” (“What a terrible waste… of money!”)
Bond is badly hurt falling from a moving vehicle
GEYE: A traitorous MI6 agent is the villain. His backstory goes to 1986 (Silva in Hong Kong, Trevelyan in Arkangel). The agent disdains Bond (“I was her favorite. And you’re not nearly the agent I was, I can tell you that.” “You know James? I was always better.”) He also tells Bond he is propped on alcohol. Bond tells the villain he loves his country. The villain says MI6 or M lied to him and he now has “his own missions” or “his little scheme”. The villain says Bond was suited for MI6 as an orphan (and unsuited based on unresolved childhood trauma). The villain says he can eat Bond (or has tasted Bond’s woman). Both villains work to destabilize countries by manipulating fiscal markets. Both use a spy satellite. Silva is a computer expert, Trevelyan hires one. The villain’s face is deformed, thanks to MI6, and he is moved by vengeance. The villain also has two faces now.
A map follows onscreen as a hacker is tracked through computer networks
Bond and Q quip about an exploding pen
Silva’s boat is the Chimera and resembles the Manticore (a mythological type of chimera)
Bond swims alone, just before he meets villains
Q’s coat at the museum resembles Boris Grishenko’s
Silva’s fallen statues resemble Trevelyan’s
Tiago Rodriguez, like Alec Trevelyan, is listed on MI6’s agent memorial wall
A villain ecstatically shouts as he creates mayhem (a train, suffocating victims)
Bond has the villain’s gun trained on him, but plunges down and away from shots fired
TND: Cyber-terrorism is used by the villain
Bond steals a motorcycle
TWINE: MI6 HQ is victim to a bombing
Silva’s boat is the Chimera (Bond’s opposition is Elektra)
Bond’s motto is on his cufflinks
The train bearing down on Bond is reminiscent of the pipeline scene
Bond fails a health test but is illegally cleared for duty by MI6
DAD: An imprisoned MI6 agent in a communist nation is left by M to be tortured. He has cyanide as a suicide measure, but resists months of torture and refuse to give up agency secrets.
Regarding a decision that puts Bond in grave danger, M tells Bond, “You know the rules…” (Bond tells M “I know the rules…”)
An unasked-for guest brings Bond something in his hotel room (Moneypenny, Peaceful Fountains of Desire)
The peaceful takeover of Hong Kong (and hidden threats to it) are mentioned
Bond is threatened by a scorpion
Bond breaks ice and plunges into icy water
“What took you so long?”
CR: Bond breaks into M’s home
Bond reproves an MI6 agent for touching their ear near their earpiece
Bond deduces Severine’s past (Vesper deduces Bond’s past)
The music cue when the Aston is revealed is close to the cue at the end of Casino Royale
Mr. Fukutu appears in the Macau casino
QOS: M is reproved by an MP
M threatens that a captured agent will be remanded in custody
Bond drinks from a 10-ounce Duralex Picardie tumbler
A woman sharply brings her car to a halt to meet Bond (Moneypenny, Camille Montes)
Severine tells Bond, “Be careful what you wish for.” (Greene tells Camille, “Be careful what you wish for.”)
A double-suicide is planned from one bullet
M says, “Of course not. That would be unprofessional.” (M says, “Regret is unprofessional.”)
“Get in” a car
Bond steals a motorcycle
Bond’s appearance to open the film is a match shot of the shadowy figures he sees under anesthetic in Casino Royale
The film opens on a dingy, white bathroom (resembling where Bond kills a henchman)
The film ends on the Bond in gun barrel sequence
Ian Fleming: Bond’s passport alias is John Bryce (LALD)
A French WWII era song, ‘Boum!’, is played. Bond and Vesper’s song (also in DAF) was the 1945 tune, “La Vie en rose”.
The film title is the title of a home (GoldenEye)
M says “Of course not. That would be unprofessional.” Bond thinks, “Regret was unprofessional.” (GOLD)